Those Things
by petthekat
Summary: Sheldon finds Penny outside, under the stars,  musing on her place in the world. One shot. Rating is for Language.


Author's Note: Another little one-shot. I was in a meditative mood. And thanks for pointing out the weird italics! does that to me sometimes.

When Sheldon Cooper looked at you, pointed finger ready and little quirk to his lips firmly in place, and asked something that started with, "Did you know..," that usually meant he was assuming that you did not, indeed, know, and that you should be thankful for his telling you, because shouldn't everyone strive to be a little less ignorant?

In fact, Sheldon Cooper, Ph.D, often asked these questions not to prove his own intelligence, but to remind other people about their own lack of it. This isn't something he did out of spite, per se. Even Sheldon Cooper had some sense of decency, if only because of his hyper-religious mother. Instead, Sheldon chose to remind people of their own ignorance because he greatly desired to see improvement in the world. If everyone moved at the same speed as he, if everyone followed the logic that he displayed, if everyone simply listened and learned, why, it might become the very next Sheldonopolis, and wouldn't that be fantastic?

Unfortunately, when moving at the speed of light - like Sheldon, or like The Flash - one will invariably miss things, things that don't solve world problems but would certainly solve a few of his or her own, things that are small but no less important, working as diligently as millions of individual blood cells. It is these things, and these things alone, that first made Penny stand out to Sheldon as a vessel of exploration. He realized that her speed - albeit lightyears slower than his - was beneficial in certain aspects, and that when she looked at him with a little dismayed smile and a shake of her head, or when she patted his arm and called him a whack-a-doodle, she was demonstrating an integral part of the world that he had yet to analyze and interpret.

And when, one day after her break-up with Leonard, he found her sitting outside the apartment building on the hood of her Volkswagon, Sheldon decided to try her speed, agonizing as it was, and he stopped next to her car with an armful of grocery bags and tilted his head.

"Are you waiting for someone?"

Sheldon's inquiry made Penny look up from where she was sitting, body hunched forward, elbows on her knees, Cheesecake factory uniform dirty from work and rumpled.

"No," she answered honestly, in that voice of hers that indicated that she had experienced what Sheldon would call a less than ideal day. Her voice could be remarkably low and gritty, Sheldon noted, a bit interested in the fluctuations in tone that seemed to express her mood so vividly. He never, ever wondered what Penny was thinking. Everyone else remained a mystery, but Penny - She was clear as a bell on a reluctant Sunday.

A long pause, and then, with all the social grace of a thirty-two year shut-in, Sheldon asked pointedly -

"Are you hoping to drive your car from the outside, then? Because if you are, I think a steering device and perhaps some form of propulsion would benefit you -"

"Sheldon!" Penny shifted towards him, pushing back the excess hair from her messy ponytail. "Look, sweetie, I'm just - I just - Fuck, I mean." She groaned, sliding off her car and stepping out further into the parking lot. It was dark, and the sky above them was dotted with various constellations that told stories that should have been true, but never were.

"I just - I feel like nothing is going right. And - every time I step outside and I look up at the sky, I see such great, beautiful things that I want to be like. I wanna be like a star, Sheldon. And - I don't mean a movie star, I mean - A real, honest to God, star in the sky."

She turned to face him, and Sheldon glanced around, bewildered.

"You want to be a burning rock ball of gases?" He sounded concerned, like he thought she might be losing her mind, and Penny blinked and then gave a little disbelieving laugh.

"No, Sheldon.. I want to be - omniscient. Eternal. I wanna be important, for once, ya know?"

Sheldon watched her, his brows knitting together, and he looked around awkwardly before finally sitting his bags on the back of her car. He walked up next to her, arms folded over his chest, fingers tucked against his ribs.

After a long moment of silence, Sheldon said thoughtfully, "You know, my mother once explained stars to me as beacons of God, constant reminders of everyone on the planet who ever was and ever will be." He cast a glance at her, eyes already rolled in an annoyed position.

"Everything has to do with God with my mother, you understand."

He looked back up at the sky.

"However, I do believe she had a point, to a certain extent. You do not have to be considered important by the world to be a star. You only must be yourself, and history will be written for you, wherever you may be or wherever you may end up."

Penny slowly tilted her head to look at him, lips slightly parted. Was Sheldon speaking philosophically? About something other than hard, proven facts?

As if reading her mind, Sheldon's lips quirked a little.

"I couldn't have gotten through years of mental and physical anguish in school if I didn't have some sort of ethereal thoughts. Besides, I like to think that stars are more like map-markers for an alien race who has been leaving us here for generations in order to watch us grow and cultivate the planet for them." He got a dreamy look on his face.

"Wouldn't that be neat? We'd be like lab rats, and I would be the top rat."

Penny's lips quirked even more and she laughed a little, shaking her head.

"What would I be?"

Sheldon glanced over at her and raised a brow.

"I thought we already established this." He nodded towards the sky. "You are the star, the map, the beacon." He looked at her and then raised a hand, awkwardly letting it flail for a moment before it came to rest on Penny's shoulder.

"You are well enough on your own, Penny. I.. would not be friends with you if that were not the case," he said, and Penny's face finally lit up and she touched his hand on her shoulder. The warmth spread between their fingers and Sheldon flexed his long digits, which sifted like sand through Penny's.

"Thanks, sweetie. You're pretty star-like yourself."

Sheldon blinked. "Am I?" He glanced up towards the sky, and all was silent for a few moments before Penny laid her cool cheek on their embracing fingers.

"Yeah.." she said quietly, a grin moving his fingers, near as it was.

"You are most definitely like a rock of burning hot gases."


End file.
